Re: Hades, Tartarus, Gehenna all rendered "hell"--Loyal translation?

From: Bill Burks (rwburks@flash.net)
Date: Thu Dec 30 1999 - 15:04:03 EST


Bill Burks wrote:

I knew when I wrote this the Genesis 17:5 passage would come back to haunt me. My
concern is based in the original intent of the writers address.

The understanding of the text by the reader is also a concern. I happen to know some
people who don't own Strong's. I also know some that don't know how to use
Strong's. I also know that in some cases Strong's isn't as percise in it's
definition as other works. I have even found some who base their understanding of a
passage on Webster's definition of the word in it's translated state.

Perhaps one's method of hermeneutics does play a part in all this as Prof. Goolde as
pointed out in his email. Consistency in transliteration is as you have pointed out
also important. I might also say consistency in translation is also important. I
might point out that transliteration can also be a tool of hermeneutics if someone
transliterates a word instead of translating it because the meaning of a word does
not fit into someones hermeneutic.

If the issue is translation I perfer to try to the best of my limited skills to bring
the author's original intended meaning into the receptor language.

Thanks for your reply.

Regards,

Bill Burks (student)

<Goolde wrote:>

The point, of course, is to determine if the use of two words is intended
to be synonymous or if it intends to showcase the difference between the
words. That is a matter of hermeneutics, which is not the subject of this
list. It would appear clear to me, however, that the answer(s) to the
discussion will be determined by one's hermeneutics at this point. It is
probable that different members of the list would have different approaches
to this point of hermeneutics. What is clear to me is that this would
affect our interpretation of and subsequently our translation of the Greek
text.

I

Bill Ross wrote:

> <Burks>
> ..I think it is different to transliterate the name Abraham for example then
> it would be to transliterate Hades or Gehenna etc. It may not be necessary
> to understand that the name Abraham means "father of many nations," to
> understand the meaning of a particular text, but it might be important to
> know the meaning of Gehenna when reading it in another passage.
>
> <Ross>
> It seems to be an arbitrary evaluation to say that "Hades" and "Gehenna" are
> illuminated by definition/clarification but not "Abraham." They are on equal
> footing: both pronouns, both with contextual information and many Biblical
> usages. The "meaning" of the name would be helpful in either case:
>
> Gen 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name
> shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
>
> But if the reader has a consistent transliteration, the meaning will be
> communicated by the text itself (especially if they have a concordance).
>
> Bill Ross
>
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